Letter to the Editor - Watertown News
Well, we know I like to write letters to the editor, because well, it's just something I've had a tendency to do over the last 8 years. Since moving to Watertown, I haven't really done much along those lines, often being inundated with other projects (ahem, see the PhD Chronicles!). But I've been reading The Watertown News, the local paper on a regular basis and an Op-Ed showed up that I couldn't resist. The original post was from MA State Senator, William Brownsberger who argued for putting in cameras that autocapture street violations. I did not quite agree with his arguments (to no one's surprise).
Here's some of what I wrote:
"As someone who works with technology on a daily basis, I appreciate Brownsberger’s effort to convince us that cameras and computer programs can help us. But his message confuses me.
He hints that municipalities would use this tool transparently and conservatively, yet also tells us that this method will be a lucrative way of securing revenue from citizenry; the machines will “easily pay for themselves”.
He further perplexes us when in one line he says the barriers are “not technological” but then admits “no currently [sic] mechanism” that can ascertain the actual perpetrator. How do you circle that square? A mechanism is, well, technology so he would have us believe that the technology works but actually doesn’t. "
Here's some of what I wrote:
"As someone who works with technology on a daily basis, I appreciate Brownsberger’s effort to convince us that cameras and computer programs can help us. But his message confuses me.
He hints that municipalities would use this tool transparently and conservatively, yet also tells us that this method will be a lucrative way of securing revenue from citizenry; the machines will “easily pay for themselves”.
He further perplexes us when in one line he says the barriers are “not technological” but then admits “no currently [sic] mechanism” that can ascertain the actual perpetrator. How do you circle that square? A mechanism is, well, technology so he would have us believe that the technology works but actually doesn’t. "
To get the rest, go to Watertown News for the full piece.
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